Ichabod Relives the Revolution, or Why Abby Should Think Gifts Through
by PrincessMidna90
Summary: Abby feels sorry for Ichabod and gets him a gaming console and a game to keep him occupied. Maybe she should've researched the game first...
1. In Which Ichabod Gets A Game

The controller drops to the floor, making Abby Mills jump. She's been comfortably slouched in the unoccupied bed in Ichabod's room for a long time now, lost in books on old myths which may or may not be related to whatever it is that she's been dragged into.

She casts a glance over at Ichabod, who's sitting at the edge of his own bed, and she's puzzled by the expression upon his face.

He must have sensed her gaze, because he looks back at her, still with that strange look.  
For a moment she tries to remember what had caused her to jump and what might have caused it, but then she remembers.

Since Ichabod still had to be held in the motel room, she'd bought him a gaming machine, a Playbox or Xstation or something; she doesn't care to remember the name. When looking for games to suit him, she had happened upon a game called Assassin's Creed III, which was taking place before, during and after the Revolution. It had seemed fitting at the time, and so far Ichabod had seemed lost in the world created by the game.

He wasn't very good at it, and often he would fight the Redcoats and die, because even though they were a group of enemies to the character, he still felt like he had to kill them on principal. Ichabod also enjoyed the part with the Mohawks, or Kanien'kehá:ka, and pronounced all the words and names correctly and even translated some of the dialogue for Abby.

She had called him a show-off for that, but even lost in the game as he was at the time, he'd still heard the teasing tone in her voice.

When Ratonhnhaké:ton was a child and the Templars burned his village and killed his mother, Ichabod had walked around the room, ranting at the unfairness of it all. Abby had tried to calm him, told him it was just a game, but Ichabod would not listen, because he knew that things like this had happened in reality to so many tribes of Native Americans.

Abby switched her gaze to the TV and realized what must have caused Ichabod to drop the controller; Connor had just met George Washington. She cursed herself for not having researched the game before buying it; for now she was starting to regret it.

Had she still bought it, knowing Washington and other famous men of the period would be featured? She wasn't sure, but it was too late now anyways.

"You okay?" Ichabod just looks at her, and Abby still can't understand that look on his face. Would this cause him to dream about that time shortly before he "died"? Would he start looking for clues about what had really happened, or maybe look to see if he had known anyone else that appeared in the game?

Ichabod turned back to the screen and just started at the Commander for several minutes before picking up the controller and returning to the game again.

Crisis averted for now, Abby turned back to the book she was reading, hoping nothing worse would happen.

She was rather wrong about that though.

Finding out Washington had been behind the attack on Connor's village had sent Ichabod into a rage which had only been calmed down after Abby had brought him out of the room so he could walk off the mood that was riding him in the woods.

The only other thing in the game that compared though was the bonus mission that included a Headless Horseman. Abby, too, felt the sting of that, and they ended up staring at each other for several minutes, neither of them talking or making a sound.

It was the only thing in the game that resembled what was going on thankfully, so Ichabod could happily show Abby around in the world of which he had lived and fought.

Like the tunnels, the woods and Connor's village after it had been rebuilt.

Abby takes back what she said when she wanted to pay him to stop talking; he sounds so happy teaching and telling her about his world and time and right now she thinks he could talk for hours and hours and she won't complain a single time.

She has to teach him about the way things work in the time they live in, so how can she deny him the pleasure of teaching her about his own time?


	2. Tea Party, Tunnels and Trees

For Ichabod, the Boston Tea Party was both a positive and negative happening. Positive for what had been achieved and for what it had symbolised, and still did.

But it was also a happening that triggered a memory from that night; of the German Redcoat and the words he had uttered, causing the explosion which caused the death of several men in his company as well as one of his superiors.

He didn't particularly care that the game (and written history) implied that it was the men he had asked to arrange the Destruction of the Tea that had been given the honours of coming up with the plan themselves, for it had served as an excellent decoy at the time, though the plan had not gone as they had hoped.

When Abby and her sister learnt that it was Ichabod who stood behind the Tea Party, the look upon their faces had been quite comical, and something Ichabod would laugh about later, but for the moment, he finishes telling them the happenings.

Ichabod had been the only survivor, but at least he had secured the chest and its contents.

Still, he enjoys roaming the streets of Boston and New York, as well as the wilderness. He likes hunting game, selling the produce and using it to improve the homestead.

This is another thing he quite enjoys about the game; the homestead, taking care of the people, making sure they were safe and protected from harm.

Had he survived the war and had things been different, he would have loved to live at a place like Davenport.

He mentions it offhandedly to Abby when herding pigs for one of the couples, and though he tries to mask it, she can clearly hear the longing in his voice for something he'll never have.

Abby wishes she could do something, but she doesn't even know if they'll survive what they've been put trough, much less how long they'll last.

But maybe, when it's all over and if they're still alive and whole, she'll take him places, show him the monuments and buildings left standing from that time.

Show him how little has changed in places, although almost everything has changed.

One of Ichabod's favourite pastimes in the game is exploring the tunnels underneath Boston and New York, figuring out the solutions so he can open the doors. Some are familiar because he's walked them himself, and he sometimes doesn't have to look at the signs; he automatically knows where to go in order to reach the places he wants to go.

Although Abby won't readily admit it, she finds herself watching Ichabod whilst he plays, with an enigmatic look on his face as he re-experiences happenings he's been a part of, whether he's been there in person or behind the scenes.

Ichabod's preferred method of getting around turns out to be trees. It provides an easier route through the landscape, and an easier way to deal with enemies below. But he tells Abby that's not the main part; for the main part is that he feels jealous of the smooth, controlled movements and how he wishes he could move like that too.

Abby doesn't say it, but she thinks to herself that he doesn't need to move like that, he moves well enough already. She finds herself surprised at the sudden thought, although it is not entirely unwelcome.

Of course, not all things about trees are good things. After failing to successfully climb most of the viewpoint trees, Ichabod started to loath them.

It gives the lieutenant a good laugh to see the man disgruntled by mere trees in a game.

And it also provides her with some blackmail should she ever have the need for it. Not that she'd ever let him know; what would be the fun in that?


	3. In Which Abbie Reflects of Ichabod

The more Abbie pays attention to the way Ichabod talk and behave, the more he reminds her of Haytham Kenway from the game. It makes her wonder if it's a trait inherited in most men from that time, or if it's just Ichabod.

Ichabod's charismatic, polite even when he raises his voice, calm and collected almost always, and that's saying something, considering the man had slept for two hundred and fifty years.

The way Ichabod acts when Abbie picks open the lock of what turns out to be the former Sheriff's cottage makes her heart skip a beat, for it is so alike Haytham's reaction when Charles kick open a door early on in the game.

Finding out Haytham was a Templar was a surprise, especially because it meant he was the "bad guy".

More so, it does make for even more interesting conversations between Abbie and Ichabod. If demons and Horsemen and witches exists, why not the assassin order, why not artefacts of Eden and Those Who Came Before?

Considering what they've seen so far, they know they won't be surprised if it turns out to be true, be it all or parts of it.

It's when Connor and Haytham decide to cooperate that Abbie finally dares to ask him.

"Crane," she starts out when he makes Connor hide in the bushes as not to be detected, "were all men of your time as polite as you and Haytham, or were they more like Thomas and the others?"

He pauses the game and looks at her, brows furrowed.

"Lieutenant, I would like to say the truth as not to delude you, for then I would be nothing like the man you claim I am. When I was younger, I spent most of my time with what you call 'polite men', although I would simply call them men. There were men like Mr. Hickey, of course, but I did not acquaint myself with the likes of him.

"It was different during the war, of course. When we were out fighting, even when we did not fight, the gap between those men and the ones more like me was very clear. Even so, several men I had thought to be of good repute showed they had simply been deceiving the rest of us, for they turned out to be no better than the drunken men of the street that had been recruited to the war so Britain would have enough soldiers to fight for them.

"Both sides were alike in the war, no matter what they supported. There were those that fought for freedom and honour, and for what they believed to be right, but there were also those who fought simply because they enjoyed it and thought it would make them heroes if they fought and came back alive."

Ichabod takes a break from talking, just looking at Abbie without really seeing her, trying to find out what to say next.

"What I did during the war, I did out of duty, out of allegiance, and it was not always honourable. It was and still is my conviction that what I did was the right thing to do. I helped the Commander to secure the sextant, to keep it from staying in the enemies' hands, and I am proud of that. I have served this new country in the way I could back then, as I still am now.

"I fought to make the new land a free land, a land of opportunity, a land where we could thrive and build new futures and families and new bonds. I fought for a better future for my wife and myself. You can clearly see where that has gotten me."

He chuckles humourlessly.

Abbie is relieved, because it seems he didn't see her when she flinched at the mention of his wife. She keeps forgetting he's actually married, keeps forgetting there's no chance he'll ever return the feelings she has for him. It's not that he can't possibly ever feel something other than friendship and obligation towards her, it's more that if he ever did feel more for her, he wouldn't be able to act on it, because of the vows he made to his wife.

Ichabod will always to the honourable thing, Abbie is convinced of it, and therefore she knows there can never be anything between them.

And as much as it hurts her, Abbie will try as best as she can to live with it. Ichabod seems certain he will be able to rescue his wife, and if (when) he does, Abbie will just have to stand back and pretend it's not going to leave her scarred in ways she didn't think she ever would be.

She blinks, and realises he's been looking at her for a while, seemingly worried at her state.

"Might I be so bold as to ask what you were thinking about, Lieutenant?"

"I was just thinking about how different you are from the men of today. As my experience goes, men are more like the drunken men of your time, rather than you." This time it's her turn to chuckle.

Maybe it was a mistake to say that, because he frowns at her now, and she doesn't like what she sees in his eyes.

"I just haven't been lucky, that's all," she quickly says, hoping to save herself from having to explain just how bad her past relationship and experiences have been. "I mean, after that thing in the woods, it hasn't exactly been easy. Maybe it would have been different if I had left, but it's too late to find out now."

Ichabod must be a master of facial expressions, because he manages to show that he's sorry for her, but it's not pity in his eyes, just regret for her, and she's grateful for it.

With a glance at the clock, she rises, realising how late it's become and that she needs to go home and get some sleep before work the next day.

She turns in the door on her way out to say goodbye, and finds Ichabod right behind.

He takes her and look into her eyes as he brings her hand to his lips, leaving a barely there kiss on it, making her heart flutter.

"Goodnight, Abbie," he says, his voice low and rough. She can't even deny admitting to herself now that she really is falling for the man, so she hurries away from his room as fast as she can, not looking back unless she does something she'll regret later.

That night, she dreams about what it would be like to be with Ichabod, what it would be like if he felt the same and could act on it. In the morning she can't remember any of it, but it makes her feel sad, as though she's lost something very dear to her.


End file.
